Process of preliminarily treating mineral and metallic substances which are to be united by pressure.



ineiit with steam, which treatment Amen RGNAY, or BERLIN, GERMANY, reservation, BY ivtnsn'n ass: GENERAL BRIQUE'ETING oil, or new some, n. r; A conroaa'rion or Jenocnss or Paememame, rnneriitseiinnmilnnn etlni erlilic s WHICH ARE To BE Uiti'rnn er reassess.

nestles,

No Drawing.

Patented reel A eutian filed as :20, inc. stun leans.

To all 'iolzom it May} concern: 4

Be it lmowii' that Lfinrfio Boner, a subject of the of Hungary, and residing atBerlin, Germany, haveinvented certain new and useful Improved Protester Preliminarily Treating Mineral and nanlic Substances Which are to be United by Pressure, of whieli the following is specification. p

My inveiitidn relates to a process of giving mihera'l and metallic saber-antes which a e to be united by pressure a preliminary treat- ,s. w immediately precedes theintroductioii of the material into the press, sothat as the pi'ess is closed, it will still steam and not water whlich is occluded among the metallic partic es.

The process is particularly applicable to the treatment of substances which are capable of being bound when pressed and which undergo acementing process when they have been pressed. v y

The essential feature of this invention is that hot steamshall be introduced into the mass of particles to be pressed at that period of time which precedes the pressing operatio'n. i e

The general process of briquetin'g and the machinery excellently adaptedfor that purpose is now well known, being described in my United States Letters Patent Reissue No. 12643, reissued April 30, 1967. The process generally speaking is based upon the conception that in order properly to unite metallic or other particles, it is necessary to drive out the air between the particles so that they are capable of coming into intimate contact with each other and of cohering as a solid mass when pressure is applied. The materials or substances which may be advantageously subjected to my process are for instance, flue dust, ores, coal dust, metalfilings or shavings or combinations of 'such materials and in general the same class of materials which are treated in my various issued Letters Patent.

It is already known that advantageous results will flow from the use of the briqueting process mentioned if the mineral or metal particles are moistened with water, but the weight of water resulting in its uneven distribution through the metal particles and the fact that it is not a compresl l l I y b sible substance, to a cert iiiii eii teiit co'ihitei'- acts the valuable prope ties which are eitp'ebted froth the employment hate now disheveled that if ticles as they reach the with steals, not one ventu e result which are use of inmass is ex ected to carry slain, 301a eel-an net.- and uiierilotected rejs'iilts which are hi special value celleuron with a brique'uag lot} ess of tliisltypeyfor instance, the steam will e uniformly distributed tliioughout the I press are associated i iiot may obtain the mass and occupying, I enormous amount of space as with wafer, it, to a very great eiiteht, has alread fr'oiii its very nature, dis laced the objectiona hle air which it the object of the bri'queting process to drive out of the metal particles so that the press is reliei'ed of a considerable proportion 01" its hurdenfor this reason alone. The steam also moistens the particles uniformly throughout, and by the use of it the degreeof moisture which is very important, also be optionally r 1- rated. It is 11ft ier found that the mass e ing permeated with steam and the pi a closed, any of the moisture not useful "to enormous pressure in the press condenses such part of the steam as is useful in the briqueting operation and this condensation takes place at the point where just ce much moisture is desired. and not, as when Water is used, practically only at the bottom of the hri'quet. Certain physical and chemical changes which further the briquetiug operation are materially promoted and caused by the use of steam as described. Thus the oxidation of the metallic constituents is uniformly and acequately brought about at the places where oxidation is desired and this oxidation is accelerated by the employment of the high temperature which the hot steanicontains. The particles are not oxidized or rusted to a considerable extent, as when water is employed, but are rather coated with a minute oxidized surface, this latter being advantageous and the former being, especially where there is much rust, a material defect. W hen water is used and not forced out of the press by the great pressures employed, the briquet will not hold together and if, on the other hand,

of water. I

as it does, a relatiyely the water is forced through the very minute passage intended for the escape of air, the air escape will be blocked and the eidect aimed at by the use of such a press will be retarded, it not entirely prevented. V fhen steam is used, there is no chance for the water to escape, except in the form of vapor, and accordingly there is no interference with the proper escape of air, but on the contrary, as already explained, the removal of air is furthered by the initial displacement of the air by the steam. The preliminary treatment with steam as described also favors the formation of colloidal silicates which cause the briquets to harden more rapidly after the pressing operation. Colloidal silicate is a term generally used to describe the cond'tion produced inthe silicates when subjected to pressure in the presence of moisture. ll hen such collodial conditions are created the silicates harden rapidly and act as a cement and not merely as a filler. The creation of this colloidal con dition is favored by the above described as steam treatment.

The introduction of steam in the fine particles to be briqueted may be said to build up a steam layer about each particle which converts that portion of the iron particle,

so for instance, with which it is in contact into an iron oxid so that the steam and the pressure working together brings about a wholly unexpected and very valuable and desirable result in the briqueting operation. T he steam furthermore heats the material to be briqueted, so that as it enters the press the metallic particles are each expanded, thus by their own physical change of form at this particular time and under these particular to conditions displacing an equivalent amount of air.

It is obviously important from the above description that the steam treatment should be of such character and should beso apl5 plied that the steam will be effective as steam when the fine particles are in the mold of the press. A preliminary steam treatment, which allows the steam to condense to a material extent before the substances are fed into the mold is manifestly, in view of the above description, notsuch a steam treatment as l employ. In one mode of employmg my process 1 supply the steam in such manner that before it impacts on the loose material or the tine particles, it is combined with hydro-carbons, for instance, petroleum, OllS, tar, tar vapors, etc, so that the steam carries with it particles of these substances or vapors and supplies the same to the material to be pressed. In this manner ll obtain the advantage of an increased percentage of carbon in the compressed material. In supplying such hydro-carbons to the fine particles, it is, as with steam alone, important that their application should be directly associated with and should precedeby only a short time a briqueting or compressing operation.

l claim:

1. In the process of compressing briquets of mineral or metallic substances that improvement which consists in causing steam to act on the loose substances before the same are pressed in such manner that the particles still contain steam, as steam, when the press is being closed. a

2. in the process of compressing hriquets of mineral or metallic substances that improvement which consists in causing steam containing a hydro-carbon to act on the loosesubstances before the same are pressed in such manner that the particles still contain steam, as steam, when the press is being closed.

3. The herein described process of treat ing mineral or metallic particles which consists in treating the loose particles with steam before the same are introduced into a press and at that period of time which closely precedes the compression of the particles in the press and in such manner that the particles stillcontain steam, as steam, when the press is being closed, closing the press and then pressing the particles into cohering briquets, substantially as specified.

in testimony whereof, ll aiiiX my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

llltPAD RONAY.

Witnesses VIOLDEMAR HAUPT, HENRY Hasrnn. 

